23rd Feb 2012
By Bala Murali Krishna Feb 23, 2012 11:40PM UTC
Not a day passes off without a news report on Aakash, the world’s cheapest tablet computer developed by the Indian government. Most of it is downright embarrassing — for the Indian government, for the prestigious IIT that set the specifications for the tablet and for DataWind, the British-Canadian company that might have become a victim of its own venture.
ndian students pose with the supercheap 'Aakash' Tablet computers which they received during its launch in New Delhi, India last year. Pic: AP.
I hate to say, “I told you so.” But I predicted Aakash’s fall, right when the $35 tablet was launched. If you missed that post, it might still be worth reading because a lot of the criticism leveled at that venture, and the tablet, is proving to be real.
DataWind, the small British-Canadian company that designed Aakash, claimed orders of 1.4 million but, according to Reuters, only 10,000 units have been shipped since October. That is unsurprising because the Aakash, expectedly, performed poorly. Low battery life, poor resistive touchscreen and much more plagued the gadget. Consequently, clumsy efforts are afoot again to upgrade Aakash, probably at a cost of $50, according to a report in The Indian Express. But by the time the second version hits the market— or if it really does — chances are it would again come up short on features, given the lightning speed of technology’s progress.
So what went wrong? And who is to blame?
Let’s first take the Indian Institute of Technology in Rajasthan. An undergrad in the school could have told that a tablet computer with the specs of Aakash had no chance of succeeding in the market. But, of course, the elite technology school didn’t ask or didn’t heed. Instead, the elite faculty at the school came up with the specifications. On top of it, when things began to go wrong, it entered a turf war by setting impossible benchmarks — ruggedness standards set by the U.S. military including withstanding four inches of rain — on what is a low-cost computer. IIT-Rajasthan’s role in Aakash must now be as embarrassing as the National Institute of Design’s, in the 1960s, when it attempted to recreate the bullock cart.
The government led by the IT Minister Kapil Sibal hasn’t covered itself in glory. Given the government’s monumental ignorance in matters technology — a previous minister promised to build a $10 computer — and its capacious inability to deliver, it should never have embarked on this venture. To bridge the digital divide — an avowed goal — it could have simply contracted a company in Taiwan and imported the tablets and sold it at subsidized rates to students. The cost would have been nominal — after all, the Indian government is subsidizing the cost of Aakash 1, which costs $50 to produce — and the tablets would have reached students sooner.
Finally, DataWind. I am beginning to feel sorry for the Tuli brothers who run the company. They bid rock bottom to win the tender from the Indian government, clearly in the hope that they would be able to sell several million units in one of the largest markets in the world. They also did all the hard work of designing and setting up a manufacturing unit.
Now, DataWind is not assured of any further government contracts to produce the tablet, and it is unlikely the company can sell that many units in the free market to turn in any profit — in India or anywhere else in the world. Reuters reports that DataWind claims “receiving tens of thousands of orders daily for a commercial version of the tablet with a built-in GPRS modem that is due to be launched this month for 2,999 rupees.” But given the performance of Aakash 1, it is a stretch to believe it can win in the market. If it is lucky, DataWind may win a small contract along with other manufacturers or may completely lose out in competitive bidding. Regardless, it seems inevitable that the Tuli brothers might just have to swallow their pride, and possibly losses, and move on.
Is there a lesson for the Indian government? You bet. But will it learn? I bet not.
